"تاريخ البحرية الهندية. (١٦١٣- ١٨٦٣)." [‎٥‎٦‎٥] (٦٢٢/٥٨٤)

pre-
HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAYY.
565
however, were not lost to the State, as in 1867, he was ap
pointed Agent for the transport of troops through Egypt, a
post he has filled daring the past ten years with conspicuous
ability and success, as has also Captain Cruttenden that of
Assistant-Director of Transports at the Admiralty.
That the junior officers,* the Lieutenants, Mates, and Mid
shipmen, from fifteen years' service downwards, suffered a
grievous wrong by the Government casting them adrift on the
world, with pensions ranging from =£60 to c£I50 a year, cannot
be denied, when it is considered that the sheet anchor of their
rights, the 56th Section of the Act 21 and 22 of Victoria,
already quoted, specially guaranteed them not only their "pay,
pensions and allowances," but also their " promotion as if they
had continued in the Company's service."
mander Chitty was employed on special service in Egypt, under the orders
of the Secretary of State for India, from whom and H.M.'s Consul-Greneral in
Egypt he received letters of thanks.
# The junior officers of the Service found employment in every conceivable
profession, and many of the younger men continued at sea as commanders of
merchant vessels, or entered the naval services of the United States and the
Southern Confederacy, then engaged in their terrible struggle, or accepted com
mand of Southern blockade-runners. A gentleman, signing himself "Ex-
Lieutenant of the United States Navy," writes, in April, 1877, to the " Times :
—" I served afloat with two British officers, one of whom was in the Royal Navy,
and showed me his certificates from the commanding officer of one of H.M. s
ships, and the other also exhibited his from the commander of H.M.'s gunboat
' Hugh Rose,' of the Indian Navy, attached to the Persian Gulf squadron. I may
add that, as the officers served under assumed names. Her Majesty's Government
had no knowledge of the matter."
The following (and concluding) chapter in the blockade-running experiences
of an officer of the Service, is of interest, as giving some idea of the nature and
risk of the duties. Lieutenant J. Gould Lakes was in command of a swift paddle-
steamer called the 4 Elsie,' and about May, 1864, was at Bermuda, preparatory
to running the blockade to Wilmington, He says At Bermuda we took m
guns, stores, and hospital supplies for the Southern Army, and made prepara
tions to make a run to Wilmington, situated forty miles up the Cape Bear River,
in South Carolina ; in this attempt we were successful, after many sharp chases
and several narrow squeaks of being captured. Unfortunately, yellow i e J® r
broke out on board, and we had to remain for one month m quarantine m the
river, and here I lost several of my men from this epidemic, which at that time
raced to a frightful extent both at Bermuda and Nassau. At the end ot the
month we proceeded up the river, and discharged our cargo, taking on board
seven hundred bales of cotton, and several hogsheads of turpentine, and the moon
being favourable, {i .e., no moon shone at all), made preparations for a run to
Nassau, Bahamas. At this time the risk of running the blockade was very great
as Charleatown, Savannah, Matamoras, and Mobile, had all succumbed to the
Northerners, and, consequently, Wilmington was the only port ^ Southerners
had left on their seaboard into which you could run a _ car g 0 - P 0 '", ®
United States concentrated the whole of their Navy. On ™ akl ^
one dark night we had first to out-manceuvre the Inahore at
some two miles outside the bar of the river, and through which we ran the
gauntlet, exposed to a galling fire of grape and canister;
the niffht. and the speed of the vessel, enabled us to pass through this our